Shipped Away: Come be in the story!
by Marlenerocks
Summary: All the small zoo animals are shipped to different zoos! Can they find their way back to Central Park Zoo? Please read and review! Have you character be in the story!
1. Joining Page

The Penguins of Madagascar characters (the small ones) are all shipped to different zoos across the world. So, here's where you come in! You can be any animal (they can't be extinct) and you can have up to one animal in each zoo.

Which zoo would you like to be in?:

Skipper's New Zoo:

Kowalski's New Zoo:

Rico's New Zoo:

Private's New Zoo:

King Julien's New Zoo:

Maurice's New Zoo:

Mort's New Zoo:

Tasha's New Zoo:

Marlene's New Zoo:

Antonio's New Zoo:

Hisser's New Zoo:

Cori's New Zoo:

Toby's New Zoo:

Sahara's New Zoo:

Jason's New Zoo:

Central Park Zoo (Where Savio, Kitka, and Max are living):

Remember, you character will NOT be a main character, but may appear later in the original story.

Please fill this out:

Name:

Animal:

Gender:

Zoo:

Description:

Personality:

Good or Bad:

Thanks!


	2. Chapter 1

Marlene and Antonio lay under the moonlight. it had a been a rough day, lots of people. It was the last day of summer. Marlene sighed. She just needed a good sleep. Tomorrow there would only be a few people coming; about five or ten. School was starting for the kids. She felt Antonio shift beside her.

"Here comes Alice," Antonio yawned. Marlene glanced over at the zookeeper as she came strolling down the sidewalks.

"It's funny because she has no idea where you came from," Marlene giggled. Antonio let out a weak laugh. She didn't blame him. Everyone in the whole zoo was exhausted.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Marlene looked over at Alice again. She was talking into a walkie-talkie. "I know, we're shipping them out. Tomorrow! I don't know, check the zoo transfer papers! No, only the little ones are going. Besides the chimpanzees. All over the world is what I know. Okay, see ya." Alice turned off her walkie-talkie. "Gees," she growled. Marlene sat up. Antonio did too.

"Did you hear what she said?" Marlene wailed.

"Yes!" Antonio yelled.

"Do you know what that means? We're all being transferred to different zoos! All of us! We won't be able to see each other anymore... what if I have to get a new boyfriend? Oh no, no one can replace you, Antonio!" Marlene shrieked and leapt forward. She wrapped her arms around Antonio. He pried her off.

"Look, Marlene, maybe you're worked up about nothing. Maybe it's just to repair our habitats or something for a short period of time. Maybe we're even going to the same zoo." Antonio said. Marlene shook her head.

"No! I really doubt it, Antonio! I really do!" Marlene snapped. Antonio put his hands on her cheeks and stared into her brown eyes.

"Marlene, the best thing you can do is keep a positive attitude about this whole thing." Antonio explained. Marlene stepped back a half step. She sighed and nodded.

"We should tell the rest of the zoo too." Marlene added. Antonio nodded. "EVERYBODY!" Marlene screamed. Antonio fell down. "WE'RE BEING TRANSFERRED TOMORROW! ALL THE SMALL ANIMALS WILL BE TRANSFERRED!" Marlene jumped out of her habitat and raced around the zoo. Antonio sighed and followed her, but much more calmly. Suddenly, Hisser and Max appeared. Hisser stood in front of Marlene. The otter stopped and Hisser grasped her shoulders.

"Okay, Marlene, shut up for a second, okay?" Marlene stopped screaming. "Okay, okay... what's the problem? I was having a dream that Toby was getting hit by a car!" Hisser growled. Marlene raised and eyebrow. Right at the moment Hisser said that, Toby the ferret had appeared. He turned around and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Marlene ran up to him and grabbed his arms. Toby grinned.

"You're holding my hand..." Toby's voice trailed off. Marlene thumped Toby's forehead. "Ow!"

"Stay here!" Marlene told him. Toby shrugged. All the animals in the zoo started the gather around.

"Whatever you have to say, Marlene, let's discuss it in the shop." Skipper announced. Everyone walked over the the Zoovenir shop.

"Okay, so every small animal, except for the chimps and reptiles will be shipped out tomorrow!" Everyone gasped. "To other zoos!" Toby let out a cry.

"What if I never see you again?" Toby whimpered. Hisser let out a low growl.

"No one cares about you Toby, so just be quiet." Hisser teased. Toby crossed his arms.

"Must you always attack me with words?" Toby retorted.

"Want me to use rocks?" Hisser warned. Toby shook his head quickly.

"We still don't know where everyone is going, but we will try to find that out soon. Alice was talking about some zoo transfer papers," Marlene explained. Skipper jumped up next to her.

"We can retrieve those transfer papers for you if you'd like," Skipper said. Marlene nodded.

"Sure. But do you know if there's anyway you can stop this transfer...?" Marlene queried.

"No. We could try hiding, but then we would have to keep hiding. If we showed ourselves, Alice would snatch us up and ship us away." Kowalski explained. Marlene sighed. She would miss all of her friends. Even the ones who got on her nerves a lot. She tried not to cry. She would miss them all. There was a moment of silence as everyone thought of what might happen to them.

"Now listen, all of you might be overreacting," Antonio stood next to Marlene. "We might not be transferred at all. I mean, she's Alice. She usually never has a clue on what she's talking about. But if we do get transferred, it might only be for a few days, or weeks, or months. I really doubt it'll be forever! Maybe they're just fixing up our habitats. Besides, maybe we'll all go to the same zoo." Antonio objected. Everyone stared at him, as if they were deciding if they should believe him or not. Skipper rolled his eyes.

"How do you know?" Skipper sneered.

"I don't know, Skipper, I'm just saying." Antonio replied. Skipper turned to Kowalski.

"He might be right, Skipper." Kowalski said. Skipper stomped his foot. Antonio rolled his eyes.

"Okay, just keep a positive attitude, everyone! If we really are transferred forever. We can make new friends at out new zoos and have them help us get back here!" Cori the ring-tailed cat said. Everyone stared at her.

"We'll just get the papers and tell you all where you're going. Move out boys!" Skipper pointed his wing to the door and they all sped out.

The penguins leapt in through the window and landed at the floor of the office.

"Check everywhere," Skipper commanded. The penguins zoomed away.

Rico checked near the water, Private checked the desk folders, Kowalski checked the file cabinets, and Skipper checked a few folders lying on a table.

"Skipper, come here!" Skipper slid over to Kowalski. "I found the transfer papers." Skipper took the papers. He gasped.

"Oh no! That can't be! No, no, no..." Skipper wailed. Rico and Private waddled over to the other two penguins.

"What is it Skippah?" Private asked. Skipper put a flipper on Private's shoulder.

"You're going to... Hoboken!" Skipper wailed. Everyone gasped.

"Hoboken? That's has to be a mistake!" Kowalski ripped the papers from Skipper's wing and looked at it. He gasped, crumbled it up and started to cry. "It's true!" Rico grabbed the paper, uncrumbled it and stared at it too.

"Hoboken?" Rico grunted.

"He's just a boy!" Skipper screamed. Suddenly, they heard footsteps. "Alice!" he whispered. He pointed to Kowalski. "Take the papers!" Kowalski nodded and they all sped over to the Zoovenir shop.

"We've got the papers," Skipper held them up. "Kowalski, read it out loud!" Kowalski took the paper and started to read it.

"Skipper will be going to Milwaukee Zoo in Wisconsin, I will be going to San Diego Zoo in California, Rico will be going to Denver Zoo in Colorado, Private will be going to... ugh... Hoboken Zoo, New Jersey... Marlene will be going to ZooMontana in Montana, Julien will be going to National Zoological Gardens in South Africa, Maurice will be going to Paignton Zoo in England, Mort will be going to Honolulu Zoo in Hawaii, Antonio will be going to Phoenix Zoo in Arizona, Hisser will be going to Jijamata Udyaan Zoo in India, Tasha will be going to Naiba Zoo in Illinois, Toby will be going to Oakland Zoo in California, Sahara will be going to the National Zoo in Washington D.C., Jason will be going to Cherry Brook Zoo in Canada, and Cori will be going to Simon Bolivar Zoo in Costa Rica." Some of the animals started to chatter happily, but some of the animals started to growl madly.

"Okay! So we're leaving tomorrow. Now, I want Kitka, Savio, and Max to watch the zoo for us. Hopefully we'll all be returning soon, but until then, you guys have to watch over the zoo and make sure no one steals our places." They dipped their heads. Suddenly Kitka flew next to Skipper and hugged him tightly.

"I'll make sure no one steals your place," she said. "I'll miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too, Kitka," Skipper replied. They hugged again. Marlene and Antonio hugged.

"Promise you won't get another girlfriend?" Marlene told him. Antonio nodded.

"I promise. No one can ever replace you, Marlene." He smiled. "And you?"

"I won't get another boyfriend," Marlene sighed and they hugged again. Tasha wrapped her arms around King Julien.

"I'll miss you so much, King Julien!" Tasha the ruffed lemur whimpered.

"I know, me too! I'll miss myself too!" King Julien cried. Tasha glared at him. "And you too!" Tasha smiled and kept hugging him.

"But, King Julien, you can be king of your new zoo, and I'll be queen of mine." Tasha sniffled. King Julien nodded.

"Yeah..."

Max hugged Hisser. At that point, Hisser was having one of her nice moments and hugged him tightly back.

"Ugh, it's so hard to say good bye," Kowalski's voice trailed off.

"Well, we should all go to sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow." Skipper said. As they all left, Toby raced up to Marlene and hugged her. Marlene hugged him back.

"I'll miss you so much, Marlene!" Toby squealed.

"Me too," Marlene felt tears run down her cheeks. Skipper was right. It was going to be a long day tomorrow. Also depressing.

Marlene and Antonio curled up next to each other, holding each other's paws in theirs, knowing this was their last time together.

Marlene woke up. She blinked sleep from her eyes and stared at the crates coming. She sighed. Today was the day. She felt Antonio stir beside her. He sat up.

"Oh," he murmured. "The crates are here. I voluntad perder esta lugar."

Other animals were waking up too. The two otters watched as Alice stuffed the lemurs in their crates. Hisser was next, then Toby, then Cori, then Jason, then Sahara, then the penguins. She got the otters last. When they passed the penguins' HQ, they saw Kitka, Savio, and Max. They waved. Marlene waved back. Alice set her down, then slammed the crate shut.


	3. Chapter 2

Marlene felt the crate door open up. Sunlight filtered in, and she gasped. It looked like she was in the mountains! She stepped out of the cage.

"Hi!" Marlene looked over to see a little otter. He had a tuft of fur on his head, and she seemed about 7 years old. "You must be my new roommate!" Marlene looked around. This wasn't a zoo. She shook her head.

"Where am I?" She queried. The otter giggled.

"You're in ZooMontana!" The otter squealed. Marlene scratched her head. Zoo? _No, this can't be. This isn't a zoo! It looks too much like the wild... _Marlene thought to herself. The little otter laughed again. "I know, looks like the wild, doesn't it? But it isn't!" The otter said. Marlene stared at him. "I'm Andres. What's your name?" Marlene smiled. Andres was really cute.

"I'm Marlene." Marlene replied. The Andres hugged her. He was about half of her size, and he was a lot younger too. Marlene grinned. It would be fun to have a little kid in her exhibit.

"Hi Marlene! It's hot out today, don't you think? Want to come swimming with me? Or play with a beach ball?" Andres asked her. Marlene sighed. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I just miss my old zoo. I had great friends, and even a boyfriend." Marlene told him. A look of sadness was on his face, but suddenly it turned to a smile.

"Don't miss your old zoo! This zoo is way much better! Like I said before, it looks like the wild! Wouldn't you much rather be in the wild than stuck in a boring old zoo?" Andres questioned. Marlene thought about it.

"Well, it's not the zoo, it's my friends that I miss!" Marlene said. Andres nodded.

"But we have plenty of nice animals here! Really! They can be your friends!" Andres started to sound desperate. Marlene grasped his shoulders.

"Look, Andres, I'm only staying here for a few weeks or so. But I need your help! When the right time has come, I need you to bust me out of here!" Marlene said. Andres stepped back. His green eyes filled with tears. He started to cry.

"But I've been waiting forever to have a roommate! I wanted someone to play with, someone to hang out with..." Andres whimpered. Marlene gasped.

"No, don't cry! I'll be here for a while, it's just that, well, you know... I need to get back to my friends." Marlene murmured. Andres wiped his nose.

"I understand." Andres mumbled. Suddenly, Marlene yawned. "Oh yeah, you must be exhausted! Here, right inside here is where you'll be staying." Andres turned around and scurried over to a small cave. A waterfall rushed over the entrance. Marlene followed him, dodging the falling water. Inside, there were two little beds. They were made of small blankets. Marlene crawled onto her bed. It was so comfortable, she almost fell asleep. "But what about playing?" Marlene quickly sat up and saw Andres holding a beach ball. Marlene smiled and got up. Andres through the ball in the air, hit it, and it flew backwards and out of the cave. Andres laughed and sped after it. Marlene followed him.

Outside, the beach ball bounced up and down. Marlene hit it with her hand, then it flew over to Andres. The otter hit it with his head, and it landed in the water. Andres dove into the little pond, his splash soaking Marlene. She laughed and jumped in after him. They hit it back and forth for a while, until they heard a voice.

"So, this must be the new transfer?"

Marlene and Andres hopped out of the water.

"Hey, Shaofu, this is Marlene! Marlene, that's Shaofu!" Andres pointed to an Indian Tiger standing not too far away. She was smiling happily.

"Hey, Marlene. Like he said, I'm Shaofu. So, do you like the zoo so far?" The tiger asked. Marlene shrugged. It was nice, but not as good as her home in Central Park. "I know how you feel. I was transferred too... from the Bronx Zoo. But if you stay long enough you'll actually feel like you're home." Shaofu meowed. Marlene's eyelid twitched. This wasn't her home! How many times did she had to say that?

"This isn't my home! None of my friends are here! My boyfriend isn't here! I live in Central Park Zoo, not here!" Marlene shouted. Her heart pounded. She wanted to go home! This place was lovely, and it gave her a wild feeling, but she needed Central Park! Shaofu hopped the fence.

"Woah, woah, calm down! You're gonna scare all the animals away from here!" Shaofu's gaze suddenly turned angry, and she let out a loud hiss.

"Anyway," Andres yelled. "She has some anger issues." Andres whispered to Marlene. Marlene nodded, shivering. "Shaofu! Let's all calm down and not rip each other to shreds, okay?" Andres ordered. Shaofu's gaze softened and she sat down. "There, good. I know Marlene doesn't want to stay here. but we'll show her that this is the best thing she could ever want!" Andres squeaked.

"Andres, I don't want to stay here!" Marlene snapped. Andres stepped back. Shaofu let out a humph.

"Marlene! Come on! You've only spent an hour here so far!" Andres begged. Marlene sighed. She just needed some time to think it through.

"I know you're going through a hard time here, but you have to face the facts. You don't even know where your old zoo was!" Shaofu mewed.

"I do know. It was in Central Park in New York City." Marlene replied.

"But do you know how to get there? No."

"Yeah I do!"

"How?"

"I need a map."

Shaofu and Andres laughed. Marlene felt like she was going to burst. She needed to get out of this place!


	4. Chapter 3

Kowalski opened up the crate and walked out of it. There, he saw two female penguins staring at him. One was almost as tall as him, and the other was smaller. They smaller one waved at him.

"Hi! I'm Candy. What's your name? Oh, and this is Riley." The small penguin, Candy, pointed to the taller one, Riley. Riley smiled.

"I'm Kowalski," Kowalski replied. Candy giggled but Riley looked him over. Candy glared at her. Kowalski stared at her too. "Is there something wrong?"

"Hm... what if you're not the real penguin we were expecting? What if you're a phony?" Riley growled. Kowalski stepped back but kind of smiled a bit. Maybe he was the wrong penguin and he had to be sent back to the zoo!

"Riley!" Candy spat. "Why would Kowalski be a phony? Of course he's the one we were expecting! Of course he is! Maybe you're a phony! Maybe we should just send you over to some other zoo!" Candy snapped. Kowalski pushed the two girls apart.

"Now, let's not get psycho here! I'm not a phony. I think I'm supposed to be here, although I rather wouldn't." Kowalski said. Riley and Candy sighed.

"Okay, whatever." Riley rolled her eyes. Candy stepped back.

Suddenly they heard water splash and they all looked toward the direction it came from. A penguin jumped out of the water. She was about the same size as Riley. She had a black stripe of her beak and was holding a bag of popcorn in her wings.

"Popcorn anyone? It's fresh!" The penguin held the bag of popcorn out in front of her. Candy and Riley waddled over to the penguin and started to eat the popcorn. The penguin's gaze flickered over to Kowalski and she smiled. "Oh, hey, you must be our new transfer! I'm Zoe. Please, come and have some popcorn. It's Kettle!" Zoe the penguin greeted. Kowalski slid over and took some of the popcorn.

"Mm! I love Kettle corn!" He quickly took another bite. "I'm Kowalski." Zoe gave him a quick nod of her head. "Back in New York, all we had was Buttered Popcorn." A took a few more handfuls and popped them into his mouth. The popcorn was even more tasty due to the fact he hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. Everyone was eating in silence, as if lost in the popcorn. Finally Kowalski swallowed his last bite and decided to start a conversation. "So, are any of you ladies interested in science?" Candy gave him a disgusted look while Zoe glanced at the empty popcorn bag. Riley hopped up and down.

"Oh, I love science! I've been studying cells recently. Did you know that in plant cells, Chloroplasts contain Chlorophyll that makes the plant green?" Riley replied. Kowalski nodded. He chuckled at the female penguin's enthusiasm. "And that the nucleus controls what goes on in the cell, and-"

"Ugh!" Candy wailed. Kowalski and Riley stared at her.

"What?" Riley snapped.

"Science talk!" Candy complained curtly. Riley rolled her eyes and Kowalski couldn't help a half-smile. Riley turned back to Kowalski.

"We should talk about this some other time." Riley whispered, shooting a rude glance at Candy. The small penguin stuck her tongue out at Riley.

"Maybe you should meet some other animals here," Zoe suggested, changing the subject before things got out of hand. "San Diego Zoo is really big and is filled with tons of nice animals." Zoe frowned a bit. "And some not nice animals." Her happy face quickly returned. "We don't have to meet them all tonight, because you are probably exhausted."

"I'd love too." Kowalski agreed. Zoe leaned over and whispered something into Candy and Riley's ears then quickly sped away. The other three penguins followed.

"Oh, can we meet Verhart first? She's awesome! She's a cheetah!" Candy queried.

"It's your lucky day, Sweet-tart, because we were planning to go to her first!" Riley yelled back to her. Candy clapped her wings.

"Sweet-tart?" Kowalski asked.

"That's their nickname for me!" Candy grinned. Kowalski shrugged.

They four penguins reached the cage. Candy hopped over the fence first, a big smile on her face. Riley and Zoe hopped up next, with Kowalski last. He was kind of worried if the cheetah was mean to him. He shook his head fiercely. _What are you thinking, Kowalski? Skipper would not except that behavior! He would expect me not to be worried if the cheetah is mean to me, but you stand up for myself and see what she's up too! _He slapped himself across the face then glanced at the three penguins standing in front of him. _But, maybe these penguins are enemies too... Yeah right! They seem pretty nice! But I will always have my eye on them! That is what Skipper would want me to do! But, of course, it doesn't really matter now. Boy, do I miss Central Park Zoo. I don't belong here! I belong at home! I have to find my way home! I miss everyone so much. I miss Skipper, Rico, Private, Marlene, Cori, Jason, Kitka, Savio, Stacy, Becky, Sahara, Toby, Max... even the lemurs. And Hisser. And maybe even Antonio. _Kowalski let out a long, depressed sigh.

"Kowalski!"

Kowalski suddenly snapped back to reality and stared at the three penguins in front of him. They were chuckling, as if they had seen something that had embarrassed someone else.

"What are you waiting for?" Zoe asked. Kowalski shrugged. "Then hurry up! We don't have all day!"

Kowalski slid over to his new friends. They were pointing at a beautiful cheetah. She had navy blue eyes and streaky tear lines. Her gaze was soft but he could tell she was angry.

"Kowalski, that's Verhart, or Freeheart. Verhart, that's Kowalski!" Candy introduced the two to each other. Kowalski raised a wing hesitantly and Verhart let out a loud hiss. She scraped her claws against the ground. She narrowed her eyes. She leapt to her feet, her fur bristling. She crouched down, as if she was going to pounce. She let out a roaring noise.

"Did I ask you to bring the transfer here? No, I didn't!" Verhart exclaimed. Kowalski turned to flee, but Riley seized his wing. He tried to break free from her powerful grasp but she didn't budge. Finally he gave up and sat on the ground.

"Don't worry, Kowalski. She's mean when you first meet her, but when you become friends with her, she is really sweet and actually quite shy." Riley explained, still holding onto Kowalski's wing. Kowalski wasn't sure if he could trust her, because he couldn't imagine that beast to act like a cute little kitten. He still sat on the ground, trying to think of escape plans. He needed to get home to New York!

"Should we come later?" Candy queried. The furious cheetah sat down and gave her chest fur a couple of swift licks with her rough tongue. She forced her fur to lie flat. She suppressed a sigh.

"Yes, please. The zookeepers are 15 minutes late for my feeding time, and you know how I get when I'm hungry." Verhart kneaded the ground with her fore-paws. The four penguins quickly sped away.

They returned to the penguin habitat. Kowalski stretched and let out a huge yawn.

"We'll show you some more animals tomorrow. We will also go back to Verhart. She'll probably be in a better mood." Zoe told him. Kowalski grimaced at the cheetah's name. She seemed as if she wanted to kill him today! He followed Zoe inside a small cave. There was a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor, with a couple of flowers. "I know it's girly... we were kind of expecting a girl. Not that a boy is bad or anything!" Zoe laughed. Kowalski nodded quickly, showing her that he was okay with it, then crawled into bed. He yawned again, curling up. He opened his mouth to speak but Riley and Candy came in.

"Kowalski! Can we study cell parts tomorrow? I have a really good microscope we can use!" Riley quickly yelled, grabbing a microscope off a small table and waving it in the air.

"Can we get some candy tomorrow? I love candy!" Candy rubbed her tummy and licked her beak.

"Leave Kowalski alone! He's trying to sleep." Zoe sneered. Riley and Candy quickly shut their mouths and turned to leave.

"Uh, guys?" Kowalski started. The girls turned to face him. "I know you were waiting forever on me and all, but... I need to get back home." Kowalski watched their confused expressions. Riley opened her beak to speak, but Kowalski quickly interrupted her. "This isn't my home. Central Park Zoo is my home. I'm so sorry guys, I really am, but I can't stand it here. I miss my friends too much. I _need_ to get back home." Kowalski sounded like he was begging but he didn't care. Candy lowered her head. Kowalski heard a sniffle as the small penguin turned to leave. Riley and Zoe exchanged glances.

"I understand," Zoe said softly. "We'll think about it." The two penguins then left, leaving Kowalski lying alone in his bed, unable to sleep no matter how tired he was.


	5. Chapter 4

King Julien yawned. Light rained through a hole in his crate and he stretched. His crate fell open, and he saw three other lemurs. He smiled and jumped to his feet the walked out of his crate. He then climbed onto it.

"Greetings, lemurs! I am your new king, King Julien!" King Julien announced. The three lemurs stared at him with bored expressions on their faces. One of the lemurs turned to another lemur and whispered something into his ear. The lemur nodded.

"You're too late, we already have a king," the lemur who whispered something to the other lemur sneered. King Julien's jaw dropped in shock. He glared at the lemur who had said they already had a king. He had black-blonde fur.

"What? Who is this so-called 'king'?" King Julien spat. The dirty blonde lemur took a step back, keeping his cold stare on King Julien. He kept his mouth shut. The only female of the lemurs, a white ring-tailed lemur with black rings on her tail, twiddled her thumbs.

"Well... his name is Slither, er... King Slither." The female stuttered. King Julien crossed his arms.

"That will not do. I am the only king! I must go and fight him!" King Julien turned to leave, jumping off the crate, but the female grasped his tail and whipped him around. She stared him in the eyes.

"No, you can't! King Slither is a king cobra... if you make him angry, he'll bite you! Then you'll eventually die, because he's venomous. One of the monkeys challenged him. He ended up getting bit... It was not pretty." The female shuttered. "We just follow his orders even though we don't want to. Because if we don't..." her voice trailed off. The third lemur, a dark gray male lemur with white rings on his tail, let out an annoyed hiss.

"Gee, Kimberly, it seems like you really like the new guy," the lemur growled, sounding defensive. Kimberly, the female lemur, glared at him.

"I'm just trying to make new friends, okay? I'm not leaving you for him." She whispered, then she eyed him. "But I will if you keep this snotty attitude all the time!" She added. The dark gray lemur glanced at his feet, looking ashamed. "The one who I just talked to is Nathan. He's my boyfriend. The one with the dirty blonde fur is Seth." Kimberly explained. Nathan waved reluctantly and Seth didn't do anything. "I'm sorry they're so rude to you. They aren't very easy on newcomers."

"Well, they better treat me with respect, otherwise I will beat them with a cane!" King Julien snapped. Seth and Nathan stared at him, while Kimberly took a half-step back. They looked annoyed and unamused. King Julien froze. Why were they acting so weird?

"Anyway," Kimberly decided to change the subject, "Why don't we go meet some animals?" King Julien nodded. He liked the idea.

The four lemurs leapt out of their habitat and started their tour around the zoo. The heat was like back in Madagascar. As they walked, Kimberly said they were at the National Zoological Gardens in South Africa. King Julien knew that Madagascar was an island just off of Africa. When he first arrived, he didn't know he was so close to home. He started to think about the lemurs back on Madagascar. Were they doing good? Did they need him? Were the fossas bothering them again? He shook the thoughts away, because he knew there wasn't a chance he'd be able to go back there in his lifetime.

"Hey!"

King Julien whipped around to see a lion cub with golden fur and crystal blue eyes. He let out a shriek and stepped back. The cub frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no," KIng Julien replied, gasping for air. "You just frightened me." The cub laughed.

"Well, that's good. Say, are you the new transfer?" Before King Julien could reply, she said, "I'm Alyssa! Hey, maybe we can play sometime!" She glanced at his crown. "Why are you wearing the funny hat?"

"It's not a 'funny hat'," King Julien responded bitterly. "It's my crown. I am da king."

"King...?" Alyssa's voice trailed off and her eyes clouded. "You can't be! Slither is king!"

"Eh, did you hear me say 'king'?" King Julien spat. Alyssa glanced at her paws. She had to keep the lemur away from King Slither, she had to.

"If you're king, what's your name?" Alyssa asked.

"King Julien," he answered. Alyssa frowned when she noticed Kimberly, Nathan, and Seth.

"Are you going to meet the new animals? Can I come with you?" Alyssa asked.

"Fine," Kimberly said. Alyssa smiled and hopped in front of them.

"We should meet Seva first, then Flash, then Komodo, then Falcon, then..." Alyssa meowed, but King Julien interrupted her.

"What about Slither?" He asked. Alyssa sighed.

"You can't meet him," she mewed. "Not ever! He'll kill you, we know that." King Julien sighed. It wasn't fair. If he was supposed to be king, why couldn't he just meet everyone in the zoo? He started to feel annoyed with everyone. Nathan and Seth with their snotty attitudes, Kimberly with her know-it-all attitude, and Alyssa telling her what to do and who to meet. He missed Tasha. She had never done any of this to him. She knew he was king. If they thought he was going to take orders from them, they were wrong.

Finally the arrived at another habitat. They said it belonged to Seva. Who was Seva? Was she big or small? Was she nice or mean? Would she respect King Julien or would she treat him with scorn?

"Seva!" Alyssa shouted. "Come meet Ki... Julien! Yeah, come meet Julien, I wasn't just about to say King Julien, because Slither is king!" Part of her sentence sounded sarcastic and frightened. King Julien knew that Slither must've been feared. He needed to stop Slither from harming any more animals.

"Hm?" Just then, a beautiful serval stepped out of the shade. Her green eyes sparkled like large emeralds. When she saw King Julien, she smiled. "You must be the new transfer. I'm Seva, the highest jumper in the zoo. I'm a serval. You must be a Ring-tailed lemur, right?" Seva laughed and leaned forward. "We need some cheerful lemurs instead of these grumpy ones!" Seva whispered into his ear and winked. King Julien blinked and nodded. She leaned back and laughed. "What's your name?"

"I'm King Julien!" He announced. When he saw her troubled expression, he added, "And I know about King Slither." Seva sighed. Even though she said she was the highest jumper, she still looked scared. Her fur started to bristle.

"Then you know how he's dangerous and all that junk," she hissed. She shuffled her paws. "That stupid snake. I mean, he's never done anything bad to put the whole zoo in danger, besides hurting everyone who questions him, but he's never really done anything terribly good either. Besides, we want to be free, right? We don't want a king." Seva snarled. She unsheathed her claws, but when she noticed King Julien, she pulled them back in. "I'm sorry. Pressure brings out my mean."

"So, he's practically endangering you?" King Julien queried. Seva shrugged and nodded hesitantly. "Well, that's not good. You need a better king, one that doesn't sink his teeth into you when he gets angry. I'm a good king, you'd like me!" King Julien grinned. Seva shrugged. Then she sniffed the air.

"Darn it, I think Flash is coming!" She hissed.

"Who's Flash?" King Julien asked.

"She's a cheetah," Nathan replied.

"She's nice," Seth added flatly. King Julien nodded slowly.

"Oh well, I'm always ready for a challenge!" Seva growled, unsheathing her claws and crouching down. She wiggled her hindquarters, and for a moment King Julien thought she was going to pounce on him.

Suddenly, a beautiful cheetah hopped the fence. She had a large white flash on her back, and her smile was warm and welcoming. She stared at King Julien, her gaze mystifying. King Julien suddenly felt dizzy.

"The new transfer, right? Well, I'm Flash." She said. King Julien shivered.

"I'm King Julien," King Julien told her. Although she looked unhappy, he was glad that she didn't mention Slither. Her gaze quickly turned happy again when she saw Seva.

"You ready?" She queried.

"I was born ready," Seva responded. King Julien turned to Kimberly.

"Seva loves to compete with the other animals," Kimberly said. "Flash is her favorite. Seva is a better jumper, but Flash can run a lot faster. Today, they scheduled a race. Everyone will be there." King Julien stared at Seva and Flash. Flash towered over Seva, and her legs were a lot thinner and looked better for running. Seva, however, had stronger looking legs, which might explain the reason that she jumped higher. The two stared at each other, their expressions determined. They both wanted to win, but only one could.

"Come on," Alyssa mewed. "Let's get first row seats so we can see Flash and Seva better!"

As Flash and Seva walked towards the starting line, King Julien followed Alyssa, Kimberly, Nathan, and Seth as they found a comfortable place to watch the race. They could see Seva and Flash saying good luck to each other, then stretching. Other animals started to assemble around the starting line. The track was a path with a bench and a tree then a path again. The two had to run, jump over the bench, jump into the tree, then run again. The one who reached the finish line first was the winner. Alyssa said that Flash always won, but Seva had been training for this race for weeks, and she wasn't too sure that Flash would win. King Julien wasn't either, because he had only known them for a few minutes. Looking around, he saw the other animals. Excited comments were exchanged. King Julien cringed. He saw two large leaves moving in the distance. A dark brown stick followed it. King Julien froze. Could it be? Was it Slither?

The snake crept up to the starting line. His beady eyes were fixed on the two cats in front of him. They never changed expression no matter what he was thinking. Five feet of snake followed him. Although King Julien didn't show it, he was scared out of his wits.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Slither called. His voice sounded stern and strong and King Julien finally realized why everyone feared him so much. He spread out his hood and King Julien could just see the mark on the back of it. His large fangs glinted in the sunlight. He didn't want those piercing his skin. "We are gathered here today for one of the races between Flash the cheetah and Seva the serval." The two cats glanced at each other and grinned. "Now, we all know that Flash has one every race against Seva in the past, but who knows, maybe Seva will get lucky today!" The crowed shrieked with excitement. Alyssa's shrill cries hurt his ears.

"You know I will!" Seva yelled. Slither smiled.

"Flash, if I were you, I'd watch my steps very carefully indeed!" Flash glanced at her paws. Slither turned to Seva. "You've been waiting for this, Seva, now don't disappoint your fans."

"I won't!" Seva cried out. "I won't! I've been training for weeks, until my muscles ached and eyes were blood-shot red!" The crowd went wild again. "I know I will win! I will!"

"Don't listen to Seva," Flash started. The crowd quieted down when they heard her speak. "I've beaten her in the past, what makes her think she'll beat me today?" Flash looked at Seva. "I know you have been training, and if you do win today, it'll be because of luck! I win because I was born to win!" Flash finished her speech. The crowd screamed, and King Julien decided to throw a couple screams in there too.

"Both have good points," Slither hissed. "Now, when I say three, both of you run!" The crowd screamed some more. It gave King Julien a head-ache. "One!" the two crouched down. "Two!" Seva and Flash focused on the path in front of them. "Two and a half!" The two knew the drill. "Three!" Flash took off faster than Seva. King Julien covered his ears as the animals screamed in excitement. Finally, Flash reached the bench. She leapt over it and landed oddly on her paws. She stumbled a few paces. The crowed oohed. Seva leapt over the bench and landed perfectly on all four paws. Flash saw her, gave her a rude look and sped forward. Again, Seva fell behind Flash. The crowd cheered. The two cats raced. Suddenly, Flash jumped into the air. Digging her claws into the bark of the tree, and pulled herself up. She slid down a little bit. King Julien knew that cheetahs were the only cats who couldn't climb trees. Seva jumped onto the same branch. Unlike Flash, she landed perfectly. Determined, she didn't wait for Flash. The cheetah eventually pulled herself up and raced after Seva. The two were getting closer to the finish line. The crowd screamed. Seva was in front. Flash was behind her.

Finally, Seva broke the tape at the finish line. She screamed in happiness. Flash crossed the line. Her eyes were wide.

"But I always win..." her voice trailed off. Seva bounded up to her.

"I won! I'm so happy! I knew I was going to win! In your face!" Seva bragged. Flash shrugged. Seva's gaze softened and she dipped her head. "Sorry... that was just such a big surprise, I didn't mean..." She looked up and smiled. "That was a good race." At first, Flash looked angry, but then a smile crossed her face and she patted Seva's head, laughing.

"That was a good race," Flash meowed. "I bet I'll beat you next time!" Flash shouted. Seva laughed. "When should the next race be?"

"Christmas?"

"Sure!"

King Julien shook his head. If made him sad, knowing that he wouldn't be able to celebrate Christmas with his friends back in New York. But maybe he could have these animals help him get back to Central Park Zoo...

"I can't believe Seva won! She never wins!" Alyssa hopped up and down, her face happy. Nathan and Kimberly held each other's hands. Even Seth was grinning.

"That was fun," a voice said. King Julien turned around to see a large Komodo dragon. "But I'm hungry now." He stared at King Julien and smirked. King Julien cringed. His venomous saliva dripped from his lips. "So you're the new transfer, right?" King Julien stepped back. The lizard's red eyes frightened him. How many venomous animals did they have at this zoo? "Oh, don't be scared, tiny, helpless lemur. I won't hurt you!" He moved forward and licked his lips. King Julien tried not to show how scared he was. Suddenly, the lizard leapt forward. King Julien screamed, but Kimberly slapped the Komodo dragon.

"Get away from Julien, Komodo, you don't want to set off a bad example of yourself, do you?" Kimberly spat. Komodo slid back and stared at his large claws.

"Well, I..." his voice shook with rage. "He needs to be scared of me!"

"Cut the guy some slack, okay, Komodo?" Seva sneered. Komodo frowned.

"Whatever," he snapped, turning to leave. King Julien's heart pumped. The blood roared in his ears. He wasn't sure if Komodo scared him more than Slither or if it was the other way around.

"Komodo's always trying to eat somebody," Alyssa growled. King Julien put a hand over his heart.

"Well, that's good to know," King Julien gasped.

"I'm sorry, we have a lot of animals in our zoo like that," Flash frowned. King Julien nodded feebly, but screamed when he felt a hot breath on his ear.

"Ha, ha, ha!" King Julien whipped around to see a gray wolf with black stripes and a white underbelly. King Julien gasped for air. He wanted to beat all these animals who scared him half to death! "You're our new transfer, Julien, right?" King Julien stared at him, his expression quizzical. "Word travels fast in this zoo. How rude of me not to introduce myself! I'm Falcon, and I'll set you off with a friendly warning!" Falcon the wolf raised his paw and giggled. Leaning forward, he whispered into King Julien's ear, "I love scaring animals!" When King Julien looked at him, he said, "Boo!"

Frightened, King Julien hid behind Seth. The lemur gave him a weird look. Falcon sighed.

"Ah, it's gets funnier every time!" Turning to leave, he barked, "Well, I'll see you around." Then he stalked off.

"Yeah, we should get going," Flash looked at Seva and Alyssa and they nodded. "Bye!"

"It's time for us to go too," Nathan said. Holding Kimberly's hand, they walked over to the lemur habitat. Seth followed them, but when he beckoned King Julien, he did not move. Instead he stood there, thinking. Seth shrugged and walked off.

"Oh, so is this our new transfer, hm?" King Julien felt something wrap around him. His scream of terror was cut off by a low, bone-chilling hiss. Finally he realized what had him. It was none other than Slither. He stared into his beady eyes, and he laughed. "Yes, be very afraid!" He growled. King Julien tried to wiggle free, but Slither's grasp was too tight. Finally, he saw Kimberly walking towards them. She had a big smile planted on her face.

"So, I see you have met King Slither."


End file.
